4 Metabolism Myths And Tea

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There are probably as many myths about your metabolism as there are truths. Some of the erroneous information has been around so long and so widely promoted that many believe it to be true. Here are 4 myths commonly accepted as truth about metabolism:
1. Never skip breakfast.
2. Hot peppers burn more calories.
3. Caffeine boosts your metabolism.
4. A pound of muscle burns 100 calories per day.

1) Never skip breakfast

The advice here has always been to eat breakfast within an hour after arising to get your metabolism revved up from your night of fasting. The truth is it is not as important that you eat as it is what you eat.

Make sure your breakfast consists of fiber, lean protein and other nutrients. The cold hard fact is if you have to choose between a doughnut and nothing, choose nothing. You don’t need the saturated fat and sugar found in most baked goods. The spike in calories burned by your metabolism from eating a doughnut isn’t enough to offset the additional calories ingested.

2) Hot peppers burn more calories

While it is true that hot peppers burn calories, a presentation from a recent study from Experimental Biology suggests mild peppers have the same calorie potential without the mouth-singeing agony.

Mild peppers contain the compound dihydrocapsiate (DCT) while hot peppers have capsaicin in them. The study found the group eating mild peppers had about the same metabolic boost as the group eating hot peppers and about twice of the placebo group. Mild peppers include bell, banana, rellenos and pimentos. Use them in stir-frys and salads.

3) Caffeine boosts your metabolism

This is mostly true also, but it is highly dependent on the source of your caffeine. Drinking black coffee and tea provides a small caffeine boost, but if you get caffeine from energy drinks, you are better off not getting any boost at all. Energy drinks are loaded with sugar – up to 1/4 cup per drink in some cases. When all that sugar hits your bloodstream, abundant amounts of insulin are released and what your body can’t use at that time is stored as fat – belly fat. One of the most dangerous kinds of fat.

If you want to burn more calories, drink more water. Increasing your water consumption can burn an additional 17,400 calories per year, or about 5 pounds.

4) A pound of muscle burns 100 calories per day

This myth has been greatly over-exaggerated. Actually while at rest, muscle burns about 6 calories per pound of muscle per hour. However that is still three times the amount that fat burns in the same amount of time – at just 2 calories per pound. So it still pays to lose body fat and gain muscle through exercising – it is just that the number of calories burned won’t be as great as reported in the media.

These are just 4 of the more popular myths that have perpetuated themselves over the years. To increase your metabolic rate, it still comes down to eating healthy foods in the correct portions consistently at the same times, along with cardio and strength training exercise.

Can Tea Boost Your Metabolism?

You’ve probably heard the idea that tea can boost your metabolism and help you burn more calories. Study after study shows it can – but to what extent? In one study done by the University of Geneva, Switzerland (albeit small, but still conclusive with this group), participants were divided into three groups: Group One took 50mg of green tea extract, Group Two took 50mg of caffeine and Group Three took a placebo.

During the study, participants were housed in a respiratory chamber where their energy expenditure and thermogenesis were measured. At the conclusion of the study, Group One showed a 4% increase in thermogenesis and a 4.5% overall increase in energy expenditure over the other two groups.

So can tea really make a difference?

Can a 4.5% increase in energy expenditure really make a difference in one’s weight loss endeavours? Yes and no.

From the aspect that whatever we can do to help speed up our metabolism, and ultimately help with weight loss, is beneficial in the long run. And when added to the other things we are doing to speed up our metabolism, yes it can.

No, from the aspect that it is unreal to expect that drinking a cup or two of tea per day will be the answer to weight loss for an obese person. After all, 4.5% of a 1,500 calorie diet is only about 60 calories, but as said before, it can be part of a synergistic effect when added together with other metabolism-increasing efforts.

Types of tea

Although the study referenced only took green tea into consideration, other types of tea have also proven themselves to increase metabolism and ultimately weight loss:

Oolong – Increases fat burning by 157% in addition to increasing metabolism and blocking fat absorption.
Pu erth – Improves digestion along with increasing metabolism.
Feiyan – Suppresses your appetite along with improving metabolism and the burning of fat.
White – Stimulates the burning of fat while stopping the generation of new fat cells.
Peppermint – Served hot or cold, it not only speeds up digestion, but helps burn more calories.
Porangaba – Boosts weight loss while suppressing your appetite. Has also shown to reduce fatty deposits and cellulite.

Drinking tea is not enough

While drinking tea does help increase your metabolism, alone it is not enough to promote any appreciable weight loss. However, when added to a consistent exercise routine including both cardio and weight lifting along with a healthy diet of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean meats, the three-pronged approach creates a recipe for substantial weight loss.